Baela Hightower
Baela Hightower is the youngest sibling of Arlan Hightower, the current Lord of House Hightower. She currently makes King's Landing her home as the Artist in Residence of the court of King Axel Baratheon and the Queen-Consort Cassanna Penrose at their invitation. Appearance and Character A shock of pale hair in ashen blonde is the youngest Hightower’s crown, loose curls falling where they might over shoulders when left free from the usual restraints come adornments of satin ribbons or tortoise-shell combs, framing a countenance that boasts delicate features from which mismatched eyes - the left brilliant in indigo, the right awash in murky shades of grey and green - watch the world with wonder. History Circumstances and Secrecy Baelor came into the world in the final moments of the sixth day of the Seventh Moon of 278, much to the relief of those present in the small room of the Hightower where his mother had been labouring since the day before. The celebration of the birth of a son was short-lived, however; Rhaenys Velaryon used the last of her faltering strength and her final breath to expel a second child from her womb. Baela was born as the last bell chimed to mark the beginning of the seventh day of the Seventh Moon of 278 scant moments after her twin brother, sliding onto the blood-soaked sheets of a birthing bed rather than into the poised hands of the Maester awaiting the delivery, whose attentions had turned to the quickly fading mother. Ser Garlan Hightower, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, remained in King’s Landing while his son and daughter took their first breaths. While the woman he had loved, despite the vows that bound him to a shameful secrecy, took her last in the security of the Oldtown fortress in the company of the Lord of Battle Island, who swore upon her arrival to keep the Velaryon woman - and all of her confidences - well-guarded in the Reach, if only for the sake of his elder brother, and the children born of the short-lived affair. Lady Alerie Hightower had grown fond of the Crownlands woman over the near seven month course of her stay in Oldtown, forming a fast friendship as expectant mothers are wont to do with the shared experiences of pregnancy. Having delivered a stillborn daughter a week earlier, the answer to the problem that the twins presented now, alone in the world without either parent, was clear. Lord Mallador soon acquiesced to her request that they not raise Baelor and Baela as the natural-born children of her brother-by-law, but as their own - as Hightowers in their own right. There would be no question of their legitimacy by anyone outside those birthing rooms, nor by the people outside the Hightower in Oldtown, who had born witness to the continued swelling of their lady’s abdomen over the course of her own pregnancy. None of whom knew that there had ever been a Rhaenys Velaryon, let alone that she had been secreted out of King’s Landing before any physical proof of the bastards growing in her belly existed. The Early Years The twins were brought up alongside the elder Hightower children, raised wholly ignorant of the truth that would set them apart. Baela was ever the curious child, always contented with watching on the fringes of any happenings, rather than being relegated to the center of everyone’s attentions. Hers was an all-encompassing stare, marking minutia to a memory that relished in collecting such details. Such was a mind that would serve her well in the coming years, once her parents discovered her talents, etched upon the walls of the High Tower by a four-year-old’s fingers covered in soot. The lamp black upon stone would ultimately be traded for additional hues upon wooden panels, though the youth would regularly eschew unwieldy brushes for fingers until practice and tutors taught her otherwise. Poetry, music, and dancing all fell by the wayside; embroidery threads tangled and knotted whenever she attempted to sew, harp strings broke, and she had no desire whatsoever to learn how to sing. Courtly graces neglected by a fledgling artist’s drive to hone her skills to perfection. Skills, which, when at age seven Baela became enthralled by a man wielding chisel and hammer upon ivory in the streets of Oldtown, came to include sculpting in addition to sketching and painting. Portraits of family and household members would content the child for only so long. Meandering the island’s grounds turned to wandering the streets of the city beyond, seeking subjects and finding beauty where others dared not look. Curious eyes devoured details, memories to be given permanence by the stroke of a brush, at the flick of a wrist, immortalizing the common people of the Reach. When an uncle seen perhaps once a year - if that - presented brother and sister a pair of horses, the gift - Dornish sand steeds upon the twins one-and-tenth nameday - provided momentary distraction from the arts, but only long enough to allow Baela time enough to learn to ride the beast, before it, too, became the subject of numerous paintings as well as one stone sculpture that remains in a prevalent position of display within the High Tower. Ultimately, the animal became the vehicle that transported both artist and materials, whether intentions were to paint city, seascapes, or portraits of faces that passersby too often discounted as forgettable. Revelations Upon a Deathbed The gift became all the more important to its recipient in the year following when word was received that Garlan Hightower had died. With his passing, so too went the veil that shrouded the secrecy of the twins’ birth, and all that they had once thought they’d known was revealed to be little more than a convenient lie told by the people they had called their parents. The stain and shame of bastardy could no longer belong to the late Lord Commander, but the revelation weighed heavily upon the youngest of siblings, who now saw the differences between she and her brethren for what they were, despite promises that past sins would remain a secret shared between the members of House Hightower and none else.. Determined not to lean too heavily on a name that was not, by right, her own, Baela threw herself into her work. By the age of three and ten, she had captured faces that belonged to more than half of the houses in the Reach, including the Lord Paramount himself. At four and ten, she took a chance and sent a portrait of the Queen, painted in the style of a younger woman upon her wedding day, to the Red Keep, The portrait was entitled 'The King's Bride'. That same year, a letter arrived inviting the young painter to court. The seal and signature belonged to none other than the very subject of the painting. During her stay, 'The Baratheon Portrait' was completed, for which the king and queen both sat. Impressed by her work, Axel Baratheon invited the young woman, who was - despite her age - becoming renowned for her talents, to remain at court as Artist in Residence, that she might better capture moments of his reign. Scribes were, after all, only as good at describing events as their words and their readers’ imaginations allowed them to be. Baela, on the other hand, had the very gift of stealing pieces of history - to be recalled upon a whim from the ether whenever one’s gaze chanced to fall upon paint and stone. At court is where she remains, though of late her work has taken her back to the beginnings of her craft. Soot and lamp black dominate the sombre scenes with the death of her king and patron. Recent Events Timeline * 377 AC - Rhaenys Velaryon travels to Oldtown from King's Landing. * 378 AC - Alerie Hightower delivers a stillborn daughter. * 378 AC - Baelor and Baela are born in the Hightower in Oldtown, just minutes apart. Rhaenys Velaryon dies in childbirth. * 382 AC - Baela's first works of art are created - sketches created on the walls of the Hightower. * 385 AC - In addition to sketching and painting, Baela takes an interest in sculpting. * 389 AC - The twins receive Dornish sand steeds for their one and tenth nameday from their uncle. * 390 AC - Garlan Hightower dies. * 390 AC - The truth of the twins' birth is revealed to them. * 392 AC - Baela is invited to court by the Queen-Consort following her receipt of 'The King's Bride'. Within the month, she begins painting 'The Baratheon Portrait' - one of her most well-known works. * 393 AC - Baela accepts the King's invitation to remain at court as the Artist in Residence. Family Members Category:House Hightower Category:Oldtown Category:Reachman